and consequently little deserved so great a benefit.-Thus the rock of salvation was smitten by God, and made a spring of living water, when Israel committed the greatest of sins, by reviling and insulting the rock of their salvation.

6. The rock was struck in the presence of the elders of Israel, who were witnesses of the miracle. Thus the elders of the people, the scribes, and the rulers stood under the cross of Christ, and saw how this rock of our salvation was stricken and afflicted, (Matt. xxvii. 41. Luke xxiii. 35.)

II. We come, in the second place, to consider the water which came forth from the rock; on which we shall make the following observations :

First, This water typified the rich abundance of grace, procured for us by the sufferings of Christ.

Secondly, As the water did not come forth until after the rock had been struck, and the glory of God had manifested itself above it; so likewise the Holy Ghost was not poured forth in a visible manner, till the blessed Jesus had felt the curse of the law, satisfied the justice of God, terminated his sufferings in death, and was again raised and received into glory. Hence the Evangelist says, "The Holy Ghost was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified,' (John vii. 38. 39.)

Thirdly, As the rock of Horeb did not yield only a few drops, but whole streams of water issued from it, which allayed the present thirst of the people, and afterwards ran in the dry places like a river, (Psalm cv. 41.) to serve the people in any future exigency; so the rock of our salvation, being smitten and wounded, is become a copious spring of living waters, so that this water of life is sufficient to satisfy all the whole Israel of God, in their pilgrimage through time into eternity.

Approach to this living water, ye who still quench your thirst in the impure streams of sinful lusts, and drink iniquity as a thirsty man does water. If any man thirst, saith our blessed Saviour, let him come to

me, and drink: but this he spake of the Spirit,' as the Evangelist informs us, (John vii. 37. 39.) These are the words of your benevolent Saviour, who ardently desires your salvation, Let them not therefore pass by your ears to no purpose. Behold, for your sake he has suffered himself to be smitten and wounded; and by his meritorious sufferings has acquired for you the spirit of grace, which in his gospel you are freely invited to receive.

Come unto him also, ye who pant after grace, as the hart panteth after the refreshing stream; and be not deterred from approaching him by the sense of your unworthiness. Who could be more unworthy to receive water from the rock, than the seditious Isrealites in the desart? Yet, notwithstanding all their murmuring, the mercy of God opened to them a copious spring of water.

Lastly, Come to those waters which flow from the rock of salvation, ye who have already experienced their enlivening virtue. Draw cheerfully out of his inexhaustible fulness, and then you shall never thirst.

THE PRAYER.

is infinite, be pleased become partakers of Create in us a loath

O MY Saviour, whose merit so to dispose our hearts, as to the living waters of thy spirit. ing of the turbid waters of sinful pleasures, and kindle in us an ardent thirst after thy grace. May we drink abundantly of the salutary streams of thy comforts, that we may arrive to those blissful regions, where we shall never thirst any more. Amen.

CONSIDERATION XIV.

THE LAST HONOURS PAID ΤΟ THE

THE LORD JESUS.

BODY OF

AND now, when the even was come, because it was the preparation, that is, the day before the Sabbath, came a rich man of Arimathea, a city of the Jews,

named Joseph; he was an honourable counsellor, and a good man and a just: The same had not consented to the counsel and deed of them, who also was a disciple of Jesus, (but secretly, for fear of the Jews) and waited for the kingdom of God: He went in boldly unto Pilate, and besought him that he might take away the body of Jesus. And Pilate marvelled if he were already dead; and calling unto him the Centurion, he asked him, whether he had been any while dead? And when he knew it of the Centurion, he gave the body of Jesus to Joseph, and commanded it to be delivered to him. And Joseph bought fine linen. And there came also Nicodemus who at the first came unto Jesus by night, and brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about an hundred pound weight. Then took they the body of Jesus, and wrapped it in the clean linen and wound it in linen clothes with the spices, as the manner of the Jews is to bury,' (Matt. xxvii. 57-59. Mark xv. 42-46. Luke xxiii. 50-53. John xix. 38—40.)

In these words are described the last honours paid to the breathless corps of the Lord Jesus,

First, By taking it down from the cross.

Secondly, By preparing it for an honourable inter

ment.

I. Concerning the taking down of our Lord's body from the cross, the evangelical history takes notice. 1. Of the time when it was done.

2. The instruments, which the providence of God made use of for that end.

1. The time is denoted in general by St. John in these words, After this,' i. e. after Christ was in reality dead on the cross, and his side had been pierced with a spear by one of the soldiers. But St. Mark specifies the time something more punctually, and observes, that it was in the evening,' i. e. according to the Jewish computation of the day, between the ninth and twelfth hour, or according to our method of reckoning the hours, between three and six of the

clock in the afternoon; when the sun drew near the time of its setting, and about two hours before night. came on. It is further observed by the Evangelist, that it was the evening of the preparation, or the day before the Sabbath. Thus it was a vigil, or the even of a day which was kept holy on a double account.

First, As it immediately preceded the Sabbath; hence it is called, the day before the Sabbath.

Secondly, As it ushered in the feast of the passover, which fell out on that Sabbath; therefore it is also termed the day of rest, or the preparation for the passover. According to our method of computing the days of the week, it was the Friday on which the Jews prepared themselves for the ensuing Sabbath, which was likewise the day of the passover, the principal, and the most sulemn festival observed by the Jews. About this time, the rest of the Jews were performing their hypocritical devotions in the temple. But instead of this, Joseph and Nicodemus were employed in paying the last honours to the breathless corps of our blessed Lord; and in this they acted agreeably to the words of Jesus, namely, that mercy is better than sacrifice. This eve of the Sabbath was a very proper time for the interment of the Lord Jesus; since the Son of God now rested from the work of redemption, which might be considered partly as the conclusion of the Sabbaths instituted in the Old Testament; and partly as a preparation for the great Sabbath of the New Testament, on which the people of God were to rest from the laborious service of the ceremonial law.

2. The instruments which the Divine providence was pleased to make use of on this occasion. These had been before made known by the prophet Isaiah, (Isaiah liii. 9.) who says, that the Messiah should, in his death, be with the rich, &c. But what little appearance was there of the accomplishment of this prophecy; since the most wealthy and principal persons of the Jewish nation, not only rebelled against

this King, whom God had determined to set up in Sion; but even condemned him to die. However, the eternal wisdom of God soon provided the means to fulfil this prophecy. God raised up two persons to perform this office, of whom it was little thought that they would take on themselves the care of the body of a crucified person. Thus, when in any instance we have the Divine promise before us, though we cannot see any one near us, who is likely to perform it, yet we must not despair of relief. The Lord will provide a proper instrument, and will fulfil all his promises. But the chief instrument God made use of on this occasion, is described,

First, By his name: which was Joseph. Thus, Joseph signalized his faith in honouring the corps of a person, who had died on the cross as despised and dejected of men, and had been sentenced to death as the vilest malefactor, with a decent interment. He is further described,

Secondly, By his country. As Joseph was a common name among the Jews, this person, by way of distinction, is stiled Joseph of Arimathea. This, according to St. Luke, was a town of Judea, and is placed by St. Jerome between Lydda and Joppa; but others will have it to be the town of Ramah, which was situated on a hill between Joppa and Jerusalem.

Thirdly, He is further described by his external circumstances. He was a rich man, and filled an honourable post either in the sanhedrim, or in the city council of Jerusalem, which consisted of three and twenty persons; hence he is stiled a counsellor. And thus was fulfilled what Isaiah had predicted in these words: And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death,' (Isaiah liii. 9.) The meaning of this verse in the original is properly this: "The grave of the Messiah had indeed been appointed among the wicked;" i. e. it had been agreed to bury him. with contempt in some infamous place among the malefactors; "but he was found among the rich af